Farming Replaces Cattle Ranching

Farming Replaces Cattle Ranching. Demand for agricultural products grows as the valley’s economy evolves. During the later 1800s, the developing Santa Clara Valley demanded an increase in farm products. California settlements needed wheat and produce to feed growing Gold Rush populations. When the Transcontinental Railroad of 1869 linked the valley to national markets, fruit became Santa Clara County’s leading product., To keep up with local economic markets, Rancho Santa Teresa lands transitioned from cattle ranching to farming. Ygnacio Bernal wisely planted orchards, hay and other crops on his inherited 395 acres., Inset Image: , Ygnacio Bernal, Fruit trees grew in the fertile soil of the rancho’s former slaughtering grounds, where blood, refuse meat and cow carcasses had been dumped for decades. Peach saplings sprouted to ten feet in three years, out-pacing all other new orchards nearby. Prune trees ranked as some of the valley’s largest and best fruit producers., Inset Image: , Hayfield with workers , Courtesy California Room, San Jose Public Library, If you were a ten year old on this ranch in 1900, your chores would be….. , ✓ Pick fruit from the orchard , ✓ Hoe and weed crop rows , ✓ Plant seeds , ✓ Pack harvested fruits and vegetables into boxes for shipping, The Bernals have been recognized as the oldest and longest-lasting orchardists in the Santa Clara Valley. Ygnacio’s was the first large-scale orchard in the Santa Teresa-Edenvale area. In 1895, his trees numbered 400 prune, 100 peach and 100 apricot. The earth between the trees was planted with corn, soup peas, beans, muskmelons and pumpkins. As a farmer, Ygnacio Bernal did very well for his family., Inset Image: , Ygnacio Bernal’s ranch from hillside near Santa Teresa Spring. ca. 1900